Microsoft Visio: 3 good alternatives

Visio is Microsoft's tool for creating diagrams and technical processes. In this practical tip, we present three alternatives to Visio.

yEd Graph Editor as a Visio alternative

The graph editor from yWorks is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. You can use it well for creating schemes and procedures. You can find the program in our download area.

• Select the desired elements from a palette on the right side of the screen and place them at the desired position in the document. In addition to normal symbols for technical processes, the palette also includes pictorial representations of technical devices and subject-specific elements, which are used for example in UML diagrams. You can then control and adjust all types of values ​​in a properties window.
• The creation of arrows and other connections between the elements is particularly easy. To do this, simply draw a line from one element to another with the mouse. This connection is now stable and also adapts dynamically when you move individual elements.
• With a newly designed automatic layout function, you can save a lot of time through the proposed structuring of your data.

Visio alternative on the net: Google Docs Drawings

The drawing surface of Google Docs is completely independent of the operating system used. It is linked to the Google account and can only be used if you have one. You can find the way to the web service here.

• Overall, the surface is much simpler and simpler than the competition. You can select elements using a button in the upper tool list and insert them into the drawing. You have to insert connections between the elements individually as lines and then attach them to the anchor points of the objects.
• You only make settings for the elements in the upper tool list.
• Overall, Google Docs Drawings is very tidy and the main functions are well implemented. You can get a result in just a few steps, but the range of functions is clearly limited in contrast to Microsoft Visio.

Slide as an alternative to Visio

Dia is an open source project for creating diagrams and is therefore available free of charge. You can use the program on Windows, Mac and Linux. You can find the software in our download area.

• The main focus of Dia is on the creation and handling of diagrams. There are many ways to do this: Select the right elements from an extensive catalog of shapes and drag them onto the drawing area.
• A particular strength of the program is its precision. Thanks to the adjustable grid and the automatic auxiliary lines, you can position and align the elements precisely. Anchor points allow elements to be connected and related. You can subsequently change the shape of the structure by touching and moving the green dots around the shapes.
• By default, Dia saves your diagrams in its own DIA format. The drawings can also be exported in high resolution as an image file or PDF.

We will show you in another practical tip how you can create table-based diagrams in Google Docs.